Ben-Gvir Sues Gadi Eisenkot for Defamation Over Incitement Claims

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has filed a defamation lawsuit seeking 100,000 shekels against Knesset Member Gadi Eisenkot and his party. Ben-Gvir alleges that Eisenkot falsely attributed to him the promotion of messages calling for murder and encouraging racism.

The lawsuit, filed through attorney Ze'ev Wolf, centers on remarks Eisenkot made on the "How to Do Things" podcast, produced by Kan 11. According to the lawsuit's claims, Eisenkot discussed the spread of violent TikTok videos among youth containing messages like "The only way is to kill" and "A good Arab is a dead Arab," alongside encouragement of violence and bullying. Eisenkot then stated, "And when I look at the phenomenon, they call it Itamar Ben-Gvir."

Ben-Gvir contends that this association created the impression that he supports the dissemination of these violent and racist messages. The lawsuit emphasizes that the minister has never published, promoted, or distributed videos containing calls for murder or the phrase "A good Arab is a dead Arab." Ben-Gvir described Eisenkot's statements as a "false attribution of incitement to murder and racism" and a "complete lie" with no basis for connecting him to such content.

In addition to the financial compensation, Ben-Gvir is demanding that Eisenkot and his party remove the offending segment from all party-controlled platforms and issue a clear correction. The lawsuit seeks damages without the need to prove financial loss.